Liddell Retires; ‘Iceman’ Named to UFC Executive Position

Chuck
Liddell officially retired from mixed martial arts on
Wednesday, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion will
remain with the company he helped turn into the world’s biggest MMA
promotion.

UFC president Dana White announced Liddell’s retirement at the UFC
125 pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas. White revealed that
the 41-year-old “Iceman” will be joining the ranks of the UFC brass
as the company’s new executive vice president of business
development.

“He’s on level and on par with all the top executives. There’s
about five or six of us, and Chuck Liddell is now one of them,”
White said.

“Chuck will be involved in many different things as vice president
of business development,” added UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. “He’ll be
working on not only the obvious regulatory issues, fighter
relations, but mainly new business development. We continue to grow
here in North America, with the U.S. and Canada, but we’ve got so
many more things to do around the world.”

A visibly emotional Liddell took the podium for a brief statement,
thanking the UFC, his fans and family for their support.

“I love this sport and I’m excited going into a new stage in my
life, to keep promoting the best sport in the world and the sport I
love,” said Liddell, who graduated from California Polytechnic
State University in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in business and
accounting. “[The UFC is] giving me the opportunity again to keep
promoting and keep doing stuff now that I’m retired.”

Liddell leaves MMA with a record of 21-8, and a legacy as one of
the sport’s all-time biggest stars and most devastating knockout
artists.

After joining the UFC in 1998 and winning eight of his first 10
bouts for the promotion, Liddell became champion in 2005 with a
knockout of Randy
Couture. From 2005 to 2007, he ruled the UFC’s 205-pound
division, racking up wins over Renato
Sobral, Jeremy Horn
and Tito
Ortiz, twice.